The present invention relates to a surveillance camera apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a surveillance camera apparatus which monitors all images obtained by an imaging unit, selectively masks the area of part of an image for the purpose of image picking-up forbiddance and privacy protection, and prevents it from being recorded or outputted.
A large number of surveillance apparatuses using an imaging unit are used for surveillance of an intruder or an intruding object (hereinafter, called an intruding object) into a Keep Out area of a public building and location, a bank, a store such as a supermarket, a dam, a base station, and an airport. When such surveillance apparatus is installed for surveillance of a public location, a neighboring house or a location causing a privacy problem is within the field of view of the surveillance apparatus and may often be image picked-up together in the range for surveillance. This can be the cause of a complaint.
To prevent a neighboring house or a location causing a privacy problem from being displayed on the image screen of a surveillance apparatus for the purpose of privacy protection, there is proposed a method for performing processing of limiting an image picking-up direction or removing, from the image screen, an object which must not be image picked-up, e.g., the periphery of a neighboring house, by image processing. The method will be described below in detail using FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 shows a schematic construction diagram of a prior art surveillance camera imaging apparatus. In FIG. 7, the numeral 60 denotes a lens unit, and the numeral 61 denotes an image pick-up element such as a CCD (charge coupled device). An incident light from the field of view of imaging is incident via the lens unit 60 upon the image pick-up element 61. The image pick-up element 61 converts the incident light subjected to adjustment of the angle of view by the lens unit 60 to an image signal, which then inputs it to an image processing unit 62. The image processing unit. 62 subjects the inputted image signal to image processing such as white balance adjustment and gamma correction. The image signal subjected to the image processing is inputted to a mask unit 63. The mask unit 63 has a function of masking part of an image privacy-protected in the field of view of imaging incident via the lens 60. The image signal masked by the mask unit 63 is displayed as a surveillance image on a display unit 65. The numeral 64 denotes a camera unit and has the image pick-up element 61, the image processing unit 62, and the mask unit 63.
A controller 67 has a function of setting the control of the pan direction and the tilt direction of the camera unit 64, the zoom of the lens unit 60 and the mask range of the mask unit 63. The camera unit 64 is attached to a pan head, not shown, for freely moving it in the pan direction and the tilt direction. The pan head is driven by a camera driving mechanism 66 in which the pan and tilt directions are controlled by the controller 67.
Assume that the controller 67 controls the camera driving mechanism 66 of the pan head to adjust the direction of the field of view of the camera unit 64, and controls zooming of the lens unit 60, wherein an image screen A shown in FIG. 8 is picked-up by the camera unit 64. The case that the image screen A has privacy-related information will be described below. In FIG. 8, the range indicated by P shows a range of privacy-related information. In this example, the image screen A is incident via the lens unit 60 upon the image pick-up element 61.
In the case of picking-up the intruding object for surveillance, a privacy part must be masked in the camera for privacy protection to output an image of the object. An incident light in the range P of the privacy-related information must be blocked on the image screen A of FIG. 8. To mask this part, the controller 67 controlling the mask unit 63 applies a necessary control signal to the mask unit 63. The part of the range P of the privacy-related information is masked, for example, the image signal of this part is removed for display on the display unit 65 without displaying the privacy-related information.
In the above prior art surveillance camera apparatus, the privacy-related information has already been subjected to processing such as removing in the camera unit 64 to be a masking image. When the image signal outputted from the camera unit 64 is transmitted via a network, is displayed on the monitor or is recorded, the privacy-related information has already been erased. A side receiving transmission of the image cannot obtain a detailed image of its part. In criminal investigation, it may be desired that even privacy-related information be obtained by limiting its application. The side receiving transmission of the image cannot select the image.